Strong Wind in California, April 8 to 9, 2008

Name: Strong Wind in California, April 8 to 9, 2008
Start: 2008-04-08T21:00
End: 2008-04-09T06:00
Location: California

April 8 to 9, 2008 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.

Weak high pressure moved over California on April 4, and plunged temperatures as much as 9 degrees the next day as a mostly dry upper-level trough moved into the state. The trough remained over the state through the 9th, with gusty winds developing over the Kern County mountains and deserts during the night of April 8th-9th, as strong upper-level winds developed through the region. Winds gusted to around 60 mph over the mountains, and to 65 mph at the base of the Tehachapi Pass near Mojave. Precipitation over the high country of the Southern Sierra Nevada also was reported on the night of the 8th-9th, ranging from an inch of new snow at Tuolumne Meadows to a trace at Lodgepole. This was the only precipitation reported from this system.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 8, 8:51 PM PST, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 8, 8:51 PM PST, 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
951 PM PDT TUE APR 8 2008

.UPDATE...UPPER TROUGH AXIS PUSHING INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS
EVENING WITH CAA OVER THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR. A STRONG ONSHORE
FLOW IS INDICATED VIA THE SFO-LAS SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT OF
17 MB. BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ARE AFFECTING MUCH OF THE KERN
COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT...ESPECIALLY THROUGH AND BELOW THE
PASSES. A 110 KNOT UPPER JET IS PROGGED TO SLIDE OVER THE DISTRICT
DURING THE NIGHT WITH INCREASING SUBSIDENCE. THEREFORE...HAVE JUST
ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY FOR THE KERN MOUNTAINS AND DESERT THROUGH
600 AM WEDNESDAY. THE ONSHORE FLOW WILL BEGIN TO SLOWLY SUBSIDE
OVERNIGHT AS THE SURFACE LOW SHIFTS FARTHER EAST OVER THE FOUR
CORNERS REGION. WINDS SHOULD DROP BELOW ADVISORY THRESHOLDS BY
EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING THOUGH BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST
THROUGH THE DAY. ELSEWHERE...THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WILL CONTINUE
TO SEE LOCAL GUSTS OF 20 TO 30 MPH FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. OTHERWISE
WEDNESDAY WILL FEEL SIMILAR TO TODAY WITH HIGHS AGAIN SEVERAL
DEGREES BELOW CLIMO. BUT A DRASTIC WARM UP IS IN STORE FOR THE END
OF THE WEEK AND THE WEEKEND AS A STRONG EPAC RIDGE BUILDS INLAND.

&&

.FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...MODELS ARE IN LINE WITH SHORT WAVE
MOVING THROUGH THE REGION OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. A FEW ISOLD SHOWERS
ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING IN THE SIERRA NEAR YOSEMITE...BUT NOT
MUCH TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY
DECREASE ON WED AND TEMPS WILL STAY COOL AS COLD POOL WILL BE SLOW
TO MODIFY. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE EPAC WILL MOVE IN OVER THE AREA
WITH SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT RISES THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY. LOOKING AT
THE GFS ENSEMBLE 500 MB HEIGHTS...+1 TO +2 STANDARD DEVIATION IS
EXPECTED...WHICH WOULD INDICATE AN ABOVE NORMAL PATTERN FOR THIS
TIME OF YEAR WITH TEMPERATURES SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE NORMAL TO NEAR
RECORD LEVELS.

WITH THE RIDGE IN PLACE...TEMPERATURES WILL BE 13 TO 18 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WITH A 20 TO 25 DEGREE TEMPERATURE
INCREASE FROM MAX HIGHS TODAY. WITH THIS SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM...IT
MAY FEEL WARMER THAN ONE MIGHT EXPECT DUE TO THE SIGNIFICANT
TEMPERATURE SWING FROM BELOW NORMAL TO MUCH ABOVE NORMAL THIS
WEEK.

THE RIDGE IS SLOW TO MOVE OUT AND EXTENDED MODELS ARE NOW
DIFFERING ON THE CLOSED LOW EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE PAC NW BY
NEXT TUESDAY. HAVE TRENDED BACK TOWARDS CLIMO BY DAY 7.

&&

.AVIATION...LOCAL MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA MOUNTAINS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY. LOW LEVEL UPSLOPE WILL
PROVIDE FOR AREAS OF MVFR CEILINGS OVER THE VALLEY FACING SLOPES OF
THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS AND THE SOUTH END OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
FROM 06Z WEDNESDAY THOUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS
WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA INTERIOR THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

PUBLIC...DCH
AVN/FW...BINGHAM

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 8, 8:46 PM PST, 14 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
946 PM PDT TUE APR 8 2008

CAZ095-098-099-091315-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
946 PM PDT TUE APR 8 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS
AND DESERTS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, HANFORD. PLEASE REFER TO THE
LATEST NON PRECIPITATION STATEMENT /WWUS76 KHNX/ OR SFONPWHNX/ FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE WIND ADVISORY EXTENDS INTO 6AM PST WEDNESDAY. UNLESS THE WIND
ADVISORY IS EXTENDED THERE IS NO FURTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER
EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

JONES

Event by event

3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Kern Cty Mtns

When: April 8, 9:00 PM PST to April 9, 6:00 AM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 49 kt (56 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Indian Wells Vly

When: April 8, 9:00 PM PST to April 9, 6:00 AM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Measured: 49 kt (56 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: April 8, 9:00 PM PST to April 9, 6:00 AM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Measured: 49 kt (56 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Mesonet

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in California, April 2008

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 97806, 97807, 97808.